It is well known that there are some golfers who occasionally have trouble in correctly aligning their putters with respect to a cup that constitutes the target toward which a golf ball is to be propelled. And if the front face of a putter is not exactly perpendicular to a line that extends from the putter to the cup, there is a great probability that a struck ball will miss the cup--assuming that the green is essentially level, of course. In an effort to provide a visual aid for golfers, there has been disclosed a laser-based apparatus in U.S. Pat. No. 5,193,812 to Hendricksen entitled "Golf Club With Laser Alignment System." The Hendricksen system includes a laser that is attached at (or at least near) the head of a putter. As explained in the specification and recited in the claims, a Hendricksen laser is mounted in such a way that the laser will direct a beam of radiant energy horizontally from a mounting point above the putter's head--in the direction of a cup. It is said that this horizontal beam will be useful is verifying that the putter's head is correctly aligned with respect to a distant cup. However, those persons who know much about both golf and geometry may question whether it is automatic that the Hendricksen disclosure will lead to achievement of the announced goal. That is, the Hendrickson laser is shown in all cases as being located immediately above the putter's head; one reason for doing this, of course, is to ensure that the laser beam will be able to pass over a golf ball that is resting on the green in front of the putter's head. And because standard golf balls have a diameter of about 1.68 inches, we may presume that a horizontally directed beam of radiant energy (generated by the laser) may be two or more inches above the green when the putter is being held in an upright manner. However, it is well known that the standard cup toward which a ball is to be propelled will be below the green's surface--not above the surface where a horizontally directed beam of light could impinge on it.
So unless a beam of radiant energy is fully visible along its entire length (until it strikes some opaque object), the beam could pass directly over a distant cup and them would be no way for a human to know that any kind of alignment had ever been achieved, assuming--of course--that the day is clear and there is not a lot of dust floating immediately above the green. The lasers described by Hendrickson as being useful with his invention operate at such low power levels that a human who is standing alongside or above the beam cannot see it. Rather, what is visible to humans is the intersection of such a laser beam with some opaque matter (such as dust) or an opaque surface. Intersection of the laser beam with a surface is manifested as a small spot of light, usually red (with diode lasers), that appears on the surface. It follows, therefore, that a careful following of the Hendrickson instructions may not produce a result that is useful, unless the staff of a flag is left in a cup so that the laser beam can impinge on the staff.
While there may well be situations in which a golfer has a caddy who can hold a flag/staff above a cup for targeting purposes, it is likely that there will be many more situations in which a golfer will not have a caddy or golfing buddy who is willing to "do the flag thing." Hence, it is an object of this invention to provide an aiming apparatus that does not rely on a horizontally directed beam of radiant energy and does not rely on the presence of an opaque object above a cup in order to help a golfer orient his or her putter.
It is another object to provide an aiming device that can be attached to essentially all putters, so that a golfer need not abandon his or her favorite putter in order to take advantage of a "high tech" aid when the time comes to correctly align a putter with respect to a cup on a golf green.
One more object is to provide an aiming apparatus that can be suitably aligned with the shaft of a putter, then removed from that putter for storage or servicing, and subsequently returned to the putter and quickly restored to exactly the same orientation it once had--without any difficulty.
These and other objects will be apparent from a careful reading of the specification and the attached claims that follow, as well as reference to the several figures of the drawing that are provided herewith.